A last-minute move by President Donald Trump to stack the federal bench has left even some of his Republican allies caught off guard.
Senate Republicans are scrambling to confirm as many as 25 of Trump's judicial nominees before Democrats take over the chamber in January, The New York Times reported Wednesday, and one of those picks was slipped onto the list for a Texas court without the usual sign-off from the state's two GOP senators.
That nominee, Elliot Gaiser, just stepped down from a senior post in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) noted that Gaiser bypassed the screening process he and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) run for the state's judicial openings and said the two had sent the White House other qualified names for the Northern District seat.
"I will look at his record and make a decision," Cornyn said, adding that dropping in a nominee this late was unusual, a move he likened to an "airdrop."
The rush comes after Democrat James Talarico won a U.S. Senate seat in Texas last week. Once he is sworn in, longstanding Senate tradition will give him the power to block judicial picks for his home state, and Democrats have suggested the White House is hurrying to seat Gaiser and a second Texas nominee before that happens.
The other nominee, Texas Supreme Court Justice James Sullivan, lost his own bid for re-election last week.
"We are going to do our best to make sure that Talarico is not denied the basic right of a senator to decide whether a federal district court judge goes forward," said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Durbin also dismissed Gaiser's ties to Texas as tangential and said the nominee had issued "unhinged" opinions during his time at the Justice Department. He accused Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) of cutting corners by rushing hearings and shortchanging the review of nominees' paperwork, charges Grassley brushed aside.
The Judiciary Committee kicked off the push Tuesday by advancing four nominees to the floor. Aides cited by the Times said the full slate includes four appeals court picks and 21 district court nominees, enough to keep senators in Washington deep into December.
Democrats have limited tools to stop it. Judicial nominees no longer need 60 votes, and Republicans still hold a 53-47 majority, so district court picks can clear the floor in a single day. Appeals court nominees take longer, and Democrats have vowed to force procedural votes to drag the process out.
"We should spare no effort to stop judges who will be on the bench long after we are gone," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a Judiciary Committee member. "I'm going to do everything I can to fight them."
Progressive groups are urging Democrats to dig in. Svante Myrick, president of People for the American Way, said in a statement, "The outgoing Republican majority has no mandate to use its final weeks in power to ram through even more extremist judicial nominees who will put loyalty to the thoroughly rejected MAGA agenda above all else. Democrats must do all they can to stop this power grab."